Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
Skills for Logistics
Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications
and Credit Framework
March 2011
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Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
1. Introduction
This document is for those Awarding Organisations that intend to offer QCF
qualifications based on Skills for Logistics National Occupational Standards. It is
a tool that can be used in conjunction with any unit whose purpose is to confirm
occupational competence. Such units are designed and informed by the views of
logistics employers to meet the needs of the UK economy. They are designed to
prepare candidates for further learning or training, or update their existing
knowledge and skills, or their continuing professional development. Skills for
Logistics aim to develop and implement combined units of assessment, based on
relevant National Occupational Standards (NOS), which are fit for purpose and
maintain quality assured approaches to assessment and verification
This guidance for assessment should be used by Awarding Organisations to
ensure that ‘competence’ units are assessed in accordance with the needs of
employers and stakeholders in the sector. The intention of this guidance is to
minimise bureaucracy whilst maintaining integrity and quality assurance of
assessment and verification of achievement.
This document applies to all qualifications in the Qualifications Credit Framework
(QCF) from the 1st October 2010 and that fall within the Skills for Logistics sector.
It replaces any other assessment strategies and guidance currently in use.
QCF qualifications are not currently used as a ‘Licence to Practice’ in the
Logistics Sector, they are however recognised and supported by employers and
stakeholders in the sector.
2. Definitions
Certain terms used in this document have particular meanings and that should be
taken in context within the assessment guidance:
to assess: to evaluate in a detailed and analytical way.*
to verify: to demonstrate that something is true, accurate or justified*
competence: the proven/demonstrated and individual –capacity to use
know-how, skills, knowledge in order to meet usual and –changing
occupational requirements.*
*reference Oxford English Dictionary
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Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
Skills for Logistics consider the combination of skills and knowledge to be
fundamental to the furthering of the skills agenda as outlined in the White Paper;
‘Skills for Growth – the national skills strategy’ BIS November 2009.
Competence for a particular job role is likely to include the generic skills required
for that occupation, specialised skills for a particular supply chain and
employability skills such as team working, creative thinking, communication and
customer care. The inclusion of such skills in a qualification creates a more
holistic approach to developing the skills required for the needs of the UK
economy.
3. External Quality Control
External quality control is achieved through rigorous monitoring and
standardisation of assessment decisions; Awarding Organisations achieve this
by operating within their existing systems for quality monitoring, risk assessment,
and management of their approved centres following guidance issued by the
Regulatory Authorities.
4. Additional Assessment Needs
QCF units that are used to assess competence within the QCF need to be
assessed and quality assured in accordance with the following additional
requirements:
1
When QCF units are used to assess competence, Awarding
Organisations (AO’s) are required to make sure their recognised
assessment centres assess learners according to the NOS issued by
the SSC for learning and development.
2
Learners should be enabled to complete, wherever possible, real work
activities that provide both evidence of underpinning knowledge and
evidence of competence to demonstrate they have met the learning
outcomes and assessment criteria of the QCF unit and that they are
competent in relation to the NOS
3
When a Learner is unable to complete real work activities simulation is
permitted, circumstances in which simulation may take place are:
a learner is required to complete a work activity that does not occur
on a regular basis and therefore opportunities to complete a
particular work activity do not easily arise,
a learner is required to respond to a situation that rarely occurs,
such as responding to an emergency situation,
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Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
the safety of the learner and/or resources would be put at risk
4
When simulation is used, those who assess the learner should be
confident that the simulation replicates the workplace to such an extent
that learner’s will be able to fully transfer their occupational
competence to the workplace and real situations.
5
Assessors must be occupationally competent in the occupational area
they are assessing where they have sufficient and relevant
technical/occupational competence in the unit, at or above the level of
the unit being assessed
6
Assessors and Internal Verifiers must hold or be working towards the
appropriate regulatory body approved qualifications for assessment
and internal verification, such as those developed by Lifelong Learning
UK.
7
Assessors must be fully conversant with the units against which the
assessments and verifications are to be undertaken
8
Assessors must carry out assessment according to the relevant
Learning and Development National Occupational Standards
(approved January 2010)*
9
All assessment decisions made by those working towards a relevant
assessor qualification must be verified by a qualified Teacher/Trainer,
Assessor or an Assessor recognised by the Awarding Organisation as
appropriate
10
Trainee Assessors should have a plan, which is overseen by the
relevant assessment centre, to achieve the relevant assessor
qualification within an agreed timescale
*these can be found on the National Occupational Standards Directory:
www.ukstandards.org.uk
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Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
5. Quality Assurance Requirements
This section summarises the quality assurance requirements that apply to QCF
units and qualifications used to demonstrate competence. Awarding
Organisations should ensure that recognised assessment centres are familiar
with these requirements.
1
QCF units that are used to assess competence must be verified:
internally by an Internal Verifier who is accountable to the
assessment centre
externally by an External Verifier who is accountable to the
Awarding Organisation
2
Internal Verifiers must:
hold or be working towards a suitable Internal Verifier qualification
such as one based on LLUK standards
have sufficient and relevant technical/occupational familiarity with the
units that are verified
be fully conversant with the standards and assessment criteria in the
units to be assessed
understand the Awarding Organisation’s quality assurance systems
and requirements for this qualification
3
Trainee Internal Verifiers must have:
a plan that is overseen by the recognised assessment centre, to
achieve an appropriate Internal Verifier qualification within an agreed
timescale
4
External Verifiers must:
hold or be working towards a suitable External Verifier qualification
such as one based on LLUK standards
have sufficient and relevant technical/occupational familiarity with the
units that are externally verified
be fully conversant with the standards and assessment criteria in the
units to be assessed
understand the Awarding Organisation’s quality assurance systems
and requirements for this qualification
5
Trainee External Verifiers should have:
a plan that is overseen by the recognised assessment centre, to
achieve an appropriate External Verifier qualification within an agreed
timescale
6
Skills for Logistics recognise that employers in the sector provide inhouse training, development and assessment processes that can meet
the standards set for Assessors and Verifiers. Where an employer
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Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
maps its in-house training, development and assessment processes
against the Assessor and Verifier National Occupational Standards
and shows that all are met; subject to agreement with the Awarding
Organisation and Skills for Logistics, an employer is permitted to carry
out Assessment and Verification using staff members who do not hold
Assessor and Verifier qualifications. Such individuals must however,
meet all other requirements for Assessors and Verifiers.
6. External Monitoring/Risk Management
Awarding Organisations should decide the frequency of external monitoring
activities, which should be based on the risks associated with a qualification of
this type and an assessment of the centre’s performance and past record.
Awarding Organisations should develop suitable auditing processes, where
naturally occurring quality assurance already exist in the workplace assessment
environments.
7. Equality and Diversity
Awarding Organisations and their assessment centre staff must ensure no
learner is discriminated against, either directly or indirectly on the grounds of:
race, colour, ethnicity, nationality, ethnicity, sex, marital status, gender
reassignment, sexual orientation, disability, social status, belief or non-belief,
language with the exception of the Welsh language and the legal requirements of
the Welsh Language Act.
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Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
Annex A
Specific Criteria for the Assessment and Verification of Driving Goods
Vehicles
Assessors
In the case of qualifications titled Driving Goods Vehicles, assessors
must hold a Driving Licence i.e., Cat A or Cat B or Cat C1 or Cat C or Cat
C+E, with the entitlement needed to drive the vehicle on which the
assessment is being undertaken.
Assessors must satisfy the external verifier that they are occupationally
competent in the employment context in which assessment is undertaken.
When assessment takes place in the context of the movement or handling
of dangerous goods the assessor must hold a current ADR certificate.
Internal Verifiers
In the case of the qualification Driving Goods Vehicles at Level 2 and
Level 3 internal verifiers must have a working knowledge of the DVLA
Driving Licence regulations relating to the candidate and the vehicle on
which the assessment is being undertaken.
When assessment takes place in the context of the management,
movement or handling of dangerous goods the internal verifier must have
a working knowledge of ADR certification and the risks associated with the
transport of dangerous goods.
External Verifiers
When assessment takes place in the context of the handling of dangerous
goods the external verifier must have a working knowledge of ADR
certification and the risks associated with the transport of dangerous
goods.
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Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
Annex B
Specific criteria for the Assessment and Verification of Warehousing and
Storage
Assessors
In the case of qualifications titled Warehousing and Storage, where the
candidate uses equipment that requires specific training, or a ‘licence’
(certificate), for example lift trucks, assessors must have undertaken the specific
training, or hold the ‘licence’ for the type of equipment on which the assessment
is to take place.
Expert witness
Where the assessor has not undertaken the specific training, or does not hold the
‘licence’ for the type of equipment on which the assessment is to take place, the
testimony of an expert witness should be sought.
An expert witness must be someone who is both competent on the type of
equipment and is working sufficiently closely with the candidate to be able to
comment on their operating ability. Competence may be demonstrated by the
achievement of a ‘licence’ or evidence of specific training.
The expert witness is not consulted as a professional assessor, but as someone
who is expert in the use of the type of equipment being used.
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Assessment Guidance for the Qualifications and Credit Framework
Annex C
Specific Criteria for the Assessment, Verification and Certification of Mail
Services/Package Distribution
In the case of qualifications titled Mail Services or Package Distribution it is
recognised that there are situations where the workplace may not be appropriate,
or waiting for naturally occurring evidence is impractical in relation to units based
on the National Occupational Standard SFL140 ‘Contribute to safety and
security in mail services’. Skills for Logistics therefore allow centres to set up
or devise assessment situations for this unit, with the prior agreement of the
external verifier that the simulation is valid before assessment is undertaken.
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